This paper examines the evaluation of student performance (SP) in schools in order to develop a set of strategies for creating more responsive systems for its evaluation, focusing on disadvantaged students. Problems involved in the evaluation of the performance of disadvantaged students are examined, including: evaluation purposes (direction, motivation, certification, and selection) that are in conflict, task assignments that are overly routine, criteria that are unclear and narrow, standards that deny disadvantaged students the feeling of competence, testing practices that provide limited information on SP, appraisals that limit teacher discretion, feedback that is too limited, and the absence of planning for the improvement of SP. Elements of a more responsive evaluation system for at-risk students include: attention to the purposes of direction and motivation; consideration of tasks prior to developing the evaluation process; broad criteria tapping multiple abilities, processes, and non-academic domains; standards that are challenging yet attainable; a broader range of information and more varied collection techniques; more efficient methods of collecting information on SP; appraisals that involve teacher discretion and broader teacher participation; more detailed feedback; new ways of presenting certification/selection information to students and new ways of presenting direction/motivation to others; and improvement plans that offer opportunities and resources. A 59-item list of references is included. (RLC)